Satoshi Morita

Klanghelm / Sonic Helmet

Our perspective in everyday life is based upon, in general, the “eye level” and the “ear level”. The auditory perception determines our sense of the depth and size of a space. According to our size of body and our position in a space, our spatial perception differs. Another aspect of the auditory perception is the conveyance of plasticity and materiality of the source ofthe sound and the structure of the space. Sound also evokes the tactile aspect of the source of the sound and the multi-sensorial perception of the recipient. This sonic perception is the key for the complex sensory experience in a certain environment and connects the identity of the space with personal memories, feeling and imagination.

The environment has always different aspects, e.g. urban space, rural environment,etc. Regarding the difference of the complexity of the space structure and the information density, the acceptance of the environment through your bodily sensation has also a different quality. My artistic practice relates to the issues, in particular:

• development of the listening circumstances by means of installation or sonic object

• archiving and composing the sonic environment by special multi-channel recording method. This sound material forms a basic for the composition for the installation or sonic object.

Initially I had the idea to develop an “audio tactile” project but this was quite open because I wanted first to get an impression from the place. The idea was to walk around, and as for the out put I wanted to use my “Klanghelm / Sonic Helmet”. It provides unique sonic experience through auditory and tactile perception with three audio-channels.It transfers an audio signal into tactile vibrations.

When I arrived to Nodar, the sound of this environment was impressive: full of frogs, this has something to do with the season, and cow bells, and sheep, goats, so I forgot about any idea I first had. I wanted to start from nothing in order to open up my ears. So I started to record some sounds that impressed me, like frogs. Some how I miss the sound of frogs in Berlin, where I live. Before I lived twenty years in Japan, in the country side and the sound of frogs remind me of my childhood. I think that this frog sounds had a big impact on me because they are a part of my sound biography.

So I wanted to make a sound object that could imitate the sound of the frogs, but it was quite impossible, so I started looking for other sounds that impressed me, just by walking around, and I started to use a stick that helped me walking when I discovered that this object was also making sounds. This sound is the result of my action, of my walking, of the environment. I found a relationship between my action and the environment through this object. Whether I walk on the grass or on the stones that are under the bridge it always makes a different sound. I made several different objects, some with wooden stick and also with stones, which made different sounds on the ground. Then I walked around Nodar with microphones attached to my feet, left and right channels separated, and one or two microphones on the object, the wooden stick. This movement creates a very interesting sonic environment if you listen to this stereo sound through my sonic helmet, so you can feel the depth and the height as in a three-dimensional sound.

The idea to work with sound was related with its tactile aspects. Sound includes not only the audible perception but also the tactile perception.The sound is a kind of a trigger that reminds you of the tactile aspect fromany material. That is why I had the intention of using different materials, like wood, stone, etc. I wanted to use solid materials like the ones we find in Nodar. Also the weight of the stone makes a difference. Then I collected different tactile sounds and did a collage with them in order to make a small story of the wood sticks around Nodar.

I like to play with sound and in that process I often develop something that helps me to play with sound. In this case, I created an object with a wheel made out of stone, and a wood stick. The material gains a function and it generates complexity. If I add more functions, the sound becomes more complex but if we get to a point where it is too complex, we loose the simplicity of sound.

One important aspect of my work is how I deal with recording. I realized how the recorded sound you capture is so much different from what you actually hear. In terms of space perception the recording is not as good as your ears, so I started to work on the idea to use microphones as anextended ear, in a way that gives me the possibility to design the space, like drawing the space using the microphones.This time I used a four-channel recorder, which meant I had four ears on my body and sometimes on the object, which meant I put the ear on the object. So the sound of the object can be heard very close to ears when you listen to it with the sonic helmet. So designing this environment using four perspectives was the foundation of my idea.

Satoshi Morita is a Japanese sound artist currently living in Berlin. He holds a graduation in Sound Studies by the Arts University of Berlin. He has been presenting his many sound installations in galleries, museums and unconventional spaces throughout Austria, England and several places in Germany. Satoshi Morita also creates radio pieces that have been broadcasted in several radio artprograms (WDR3, Deutchlandradio Kultur, etc.). He was granted an honorary mention at Prix ArsElectronica 2008.